Hyperbole among GOP lawmakers and the anguished pundit class reached epic proportions this week as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner presented the president's proposal to address the looming tax increases and spending cuts set to kick in, if a deal is not reached by January.

These remarks, coming on the heels of a sound rejection of Mitt Romney's fidelity to America's 1%, indicate that the ones suffering from a break with reality are the Republicans deaf to the mandate of this election. Their delusional commitment to eviscerating social insurance programs -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- while allowing the rich to get richer shows a remarkable disconnect from the shared experience of most Americans.

Decades of underinvestment in our country by the wealthy class, two Bush wars paid for on credit, and an unrestrained culture on Wall Street that treated the economy like a poorly run casino has unarguably left America strapped for cash. The only question at hand is whether we'll finally be treated to genuine accountability and sound fiscal policy in this deal.

Ilyse Hogue

Not if the Republicans get their way. Their endless exaggeration of the certain doom that awaits us on the other side of the fiscal cliff is intended once again to force middle class and poor Americans to accept yet one more bum deal so that the wealthy don't have to budge an inch. But this time, they do so at their own political peril.

The polling jury is less clear on the question of Medicaid, the program that serves a population that is disproportionately young, disproportionately female and disproportionately people of color. By definition, these people are poor. This is the population that has suffered the most in an economic recession.

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At a time when economic inequality is the highest it's been since the Great Depression and federal tax rates are lower than they were under Ronald Reagan, the party that fails to support the will of the people will pay a price.

But when push comes to shove, the GOP has greater masters to serve. The Sheldon Adelsons of the 2012 campaign are being followed by Fix the Debt, a corporate front group most aggressively holding lawmakers' feet to the fire to cut benefit programs. While the group as a whole takes no official position on tax revenue, the membership roster is a veritable who's who of warriors for corporate tax cuts. The money to run this country has to come from somewhere, and this group nominates the old, the sick, and the poor to foot the bill.

Following the advice of this cabal seems like a dicey proposition morally and politically, a fact that's not lost on all GOP lawmakers. Some are starting to prioritize their own reelection prospects over party fidelity. Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma broke rank recently to argue that his party should go along with President Obama's plan of taxing the wealthiest Americans.

Put aside for a moment the grave moral injustice of forcing the middle class, the poor and the elderly to foot the bill for an economic mess not of their making. Pursuing concessions like these barrels down a political path that has been shown to be an abject failure. Two-thirds of Americans believe that our representatives in Washington will act like "spoiled children" through these negotiations, with most people blaming Republicans for the standoff.